Ai Maina
General Name: Ai Maina Nickname: Kawano Yurei Age: Died at 20, currently 500+ D. O. B: January 23, 1553 Race: Shinigami Gender: Male (appears female) Blood Type: O Marital Status: Single Appearance Height: 5' 7" Weight: 115 lbs Hair: White, waist-length Eyes: Aqua Skin: Pale Body Type: Slender Ai is distinctively feminine in appearance despite being biologically male. He is tall and slender with a small waist that gives him a subtle hourglass figure. In addition, he has long white hair that hangs down to his waist and androgynous facial features that contribute to his feminine appearance. Ai doesn't like to wear the typical shihakusho assigned to most shinigami. So he opts to wear a pair of white shorts and a loose-fitting sleeveless top when off-duty. Personality (It is worth mentioning that Ai cannot remember much of his life, but some of his pre-mortem characteristics surface in his personality) In a single word, Ai is eccentric. He is very excitable and energetic, even in the most serious of situations. For the most part, he also feels a sense of affection towards everything and everyone, which leads to him being friendly and cheerful towards almost everyone he meets. This does not apply to his enemies the same way that it applies to his friends; if Ai finds himself in a real combat situation he will commonly take on a sadistic, playful demeanor instead. Perhaps Ai's strangest quality is the fact that he openly takes pride in his effeminate appearance. He seems to get amusement out of any resulting confusion and may even lie about his gender solely for entertainment. In order to accentuate his act, Ai often cross-dresses when his uniform isn't required to be worn. In fact, it is rarer to see Ai wearing men's clothing than it is to see him wearing women's clothing. Ai has repressed memories from his life as a human and doesn't really recall much very accurately. This contributes to his unusual behavior. Likes * People mistaking him for a woman * Making mischief * Sweets * Anyone who doesn't try to kill him * Alcohol * Rivers Dislikes * Letting people down * Being hunted down/chased * Being forbidden from doing things * Kido * Hangovers History In the winter months of 1553, Ai was born to a single mother in a small, highly superstitious village just north of Kyoto. He never knew his father and really didn't know his mother, as he was almost immediately quarantined after birth by the village leader due to the unusual traits brought on by what is now known as albinism. Once he was a mere three years old, the village sold Ai to a passing military troop. While in the military, Ai usually did chores all day and endured much abuse from the soldiers. For the most part, Ai only did menial chores around camp while he was young. At first, no one really paid attention to the young boy, save for one compassionate mercenary swordsman who allowed Ai to sleep in his tent. It was from this man that Ai learned to read in his older years. In the coming years where Ai grew to the point where he was no longer a tiny worker boy, the soldiers began to abuse him for amusement. He was often beaten, stolen from, and otherwise tormented by the men all the way up until he was ten years old. Change came, but not for the better. On one day in late summer, the swordsman who had been so kind to Ai before intervened to try and stop two particularly malevolent soldiers from drowning Ai while he was washing clothes in a river. It soon came to blows. One of the two soldiers was struck down by the swordsman and was in turn killed by the other. In an act of desperation Ai grabbed the fallen mercenary's blade and got a lucky shot on the soldier, killing him and giving Ai time to flee. The next thing he knew he was on the run from the army carrying only the clothes on his back and a sword at his hip. After that, Ai was never really the same passive, obedient, dependent child he was before. Slowly he began to think for himself, finding food and hiding for the bounty hunters that came after him. For the next year he evaded human contact, deathly afraid of what might become of him if he was recognized and captured. After a year, at the edge of winter's coming, Ai acknowledged that the tattered fabric he called clothing would no longer be adequate to protect him from the environment. In pursuit of clothing, he snuck into a nearby village late at night and broke into a home. The owners called out for help, prompting Ai to rapidly grab the first thing that he could and get out of there, narrowly escaping capture. Upon sunrise of the next morning, Ai examined the article of clothing to discover that it was a white dress that belonged to the woman that lived in the house. He knew that he wouldn't be able to return to the village again, so he made do and replaced his tattered clothes with the dress. Ai spent the rest of his life wandering, surviving, and fighting off bounty hunters as his skill with a sword improved to unnatural levels for a human. He eventually made a habit of traveling along rivers since they conveniently provided him with fish, water, and a path to follow. This, coupled with his white dress, hair, and complexion, earned Ai his nickname among those who knew of him: Kawano Yurei, or Ghost of the River. He eventually died at the age of 20, but doesn't remember how or why. Powers and Abilities Adept Swordsman: Having had to fight off numerous bounty hunters while alive, Ai's already-tremendous talent with a blade grew with experience. While in the Seireitei, he continued to hone his skills and is now highly proficient with his Zanpakuto, even among mid-level shinigami. Shunpo: 'Ai is capable of using Shunpo, though he has some difficulty controlling it. '''Enhanced Endurance: '''Ai can continuously fight or train for long periods of time before tiring out. He is also resistant to pain, though larger injuries still impede him physically just like anyone else. Zanpakutō: Sanzunokawa (Acheron) When Sanzunokawa is sealed, she takes the form of a standard katana with a 70 cm blade. Her hilt is a lighter hue of teal and is decorated with a simple design consisting of many curving, wavy lines. A similar design can be found carved into the tsuba. Inner World Ai's inner world consists of a sparse forest that sprawls over the land as far as the eye can see. A single calm river cuts through the foliage, taking a straight path that also appears to continue infinitely. One cannot see the bottom of the river despite it being relatively clear; upon attempting to dive one would find that it is bottomless. Despite there being trees and land on either side of the river it is impossible to reach either bank; if one tried they would find themselves walking in place a few feet from the edge as though held in place by an invisible tether. Sanzunokawa takes the form of Ai's reflection in the river, tinted a muted hue of greenish-blue. She ''can flip over to be on the same side of the river as Ai, but she rarely does so unless she needs to have a physical presence. She is much faster and much stronger than Ai is, but she holds back whenever she is testing his strength and skill. Despite looking very much like Ai, she acts completely differently. She is very quick to anger but very calm and collected in combat, and she does her best to just slightly outdo her opponent (usually Ai) at every step. In addition, she holds Ai's memories of his life as a human from him, releasing them to him slowly as dreams while he matures as a shinigami. Shikai '''Release command: Nagareru, Sanzunokawa In order to release Sanzunokawa, Ai sheathes the sealed blade and says the release command. When he draws the blade again, she will reveal her true form. The most immediately noticeable change is that Sanzunokawa becomes significantly longer. The blade extends to 1 meter long and becomes a steely shade of light blue that shimmers like the surface of the water. A long piece of darker blue cloth flows off of her pommel and wraps its way around Ai's hand and her hilt, effectively binding the two together. Sattou is passively active whenever Sanzunokawa is released. If Ai strikes the same target more than once with his zanpakuto, the amount of force behind the blow increases. If the attack misses or a different object is hit, the stacking effect is reset. At first, the difference is minimal; a weak strike still won't cause much harm, and a strong strike still packs an appropriate punch. The third attack will begin to display the effects more clearly; weak swings will successfully parry stronger swings, and regular swings will hit harder than they seem like they should. By the fifth consecutive hit, a strong blow would carry enough force to cause a weapon to be torn from the grasp of its wielder. If a target is hit more than five times without successfully causing Ai to miss, it will likely either be destroyed or blown away. This force does ''not ''exhibit itself in any way, shape, or form on Ai himself. If he swings his sword and connects, he won't feel any more impact from the amplified blow than if the ability were not in effect. Statistics Out of Character Info Eastern Time Zone (UTC-05:00) or just plain EST I am usually most available to RP between: 6:00 AM - ~7:30 AM 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM